Snapshot of the past

Longwarry hasn't always been a dairy town. In fact, up until the completion of the Gippsland rail line to Sale in April 1879, dairying hardly existed but became popular in 1881 when the land around the newly opened rail line was deemed suitable for dairy cattle.
The subsequent tree felling was to use the land for dairies, but it also served as the beginning of sawmilling in the district.
A local sawmiller, Donald Fraser lobbied Victorian Railways to install a siding on the north side of the rail line, serving the Longwarry Run house on Musk Creek. The name Longwarry was attached to the siding and later became what we now know as Longwarry Station. The town which grew from the sawmilling took the name.
The 1880s was a period of incredible growth in Melbourne. The need for stone and wood saw Gippsland viewed as a reliable source of much needed timber for construction, but mostly as firewood.
The soon-to-be dairy farmers saw this as a way to get their land cleared, while the sawmillers saw it as a way to provide jobs and make profits.
The rail opened new opportunities for sawmillers to get their product to the hungry Melbourne market.
Much of the timber in Gippsland was close to the new rail corridor and so transport of the logs to the rail head was considered quite easy for that time. However, as the timber was felled, distances to the rail increased and transport was becoming quite laborious, and expensive.
With existing roads being no more than muddy tracks which were unpassable in winter, an "all weather" method was required.
Tramways were presented as a viable alternative for transportation.
Built from local hardwood with sleepers being six feet long, and seven inches high and wide, with rails of sawn hardwood six inches by three inches and six inches by four inches, which were to be keyed onto the sleepers at intervals of three feet.
These tramways would be the backbone of some sawmills in the region for many years to come, as well as providing a "lifeline" for those people that resided in the bush.
Most tramways of the time were simply a means of getting the timber out of the forest to the rail head.
Millers found that moving the mill to another location was more economic, and easier than extending the tramway, so many lines were simply abandoned.
Photograph and information courtesy of Longwarry and District History Group.
The group is dedicated to preserving the history of the 3816 postcode, including Labertouche, Longwarry North and Modella.
For further information, visit longwarryhistory.org